Swiss National Bank Trims Stake in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Swiss National Bank cut its holdings in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 746,900 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after selling 21,200 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in FedEx were worth $188,943,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of FedEx by 0.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,729,110 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $4,961,716,000 after buying an additional 59,161 shares during the period. Sentry LLC purchased a new stake in FedEx during the fourth quarter worth about $1,811,748,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of FedEx by 29.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,063,938 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $1,076,619,000 after purchasing an additional 916,555 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of FedEx by 1.1% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,238,185 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $857,860,000 after purchasing an additional 35,085 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of FedEx by 13.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,004,838 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $796,042,000 after acquiring an additional 360,680 shares in the last quarter. 84.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on FDX. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on FedEx from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Melius Research raised FedEx from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $310.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of FedEx in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of FedEx from $310.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of FedEx from $323.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, FedEx has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $301.33.

FedEx Price Performance

FDX stock traded down $1.37 during trading on Friday, hitting $260.66. The company had a trading volume of 1,085,097 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,967,710. The business has a 50 day moving average of $263.93 and a 200 day moving average of $254.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. FedEx Co. has a fifty-two week low of $213.80 and a fifty-two week high of $291.27.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The shipping service provider reported $3.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.49 by $0.37. FedEx had a net margin of 5.02% and a return on equity of 16.60%. The company had revenue of $21.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.41 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that FedEx Co. will post 17.69 earnings per share for the current year.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were given a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.07%.

FedEx announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, March 21st that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the shipping service provider to buy up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at FedEx

In other FedEx news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.30, for a total value of $31,105,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 14,505,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,978,953,009.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other FedEx news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.30, for a total value of $31,105,620.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 14,505,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,978,953,009.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Tracy B. Brightman sold 2,550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.69, for a total value of $703,009.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,735,192.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 136,668 shares of company stock valued at $37,758,773. Corporate insiders own 8.73% of the company’s stock.

About FedEx

FedEx Corporation provides transportation, e-commerce, and business services in the United States and internationally. It operates through FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, and FedEx Services segments. The FedEx Express segment offers express transportation, small-package ground delivery, and freight transportation services; and time-critical transportation services.